Primary Contacts: Adam Norris Paul Maassen UNO Director of Public Relations WWNO General Manager (504) 280-6939 (504) 280-7003 [email protected] [email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE UNO To Launch NewOrleansReporter.org

New Multimedia Newsroom to be Led by Public Radio Station WWNO, In Partnership with NPR, With Support from Business and Civic Groups

(July 27, 2012, New Orleans, La.)- The University of New Orleans announced a plan to create a new nonprofit multimedia to be operated by the University in partnership with WWNO. This new newsroom will produce in-depth local reporting on issues of vital interest to the community, to be featured online through NewOrleansReporter.org, a news website and mobile platform, and on radio via WWNO. The objective of the University and its partners is to create a strong, sustainable model for nonprofit, multimedia journalism that will serve the greater New Orleans area as an open source of trustworthy news and information for decades to come. “This initiative demonstrates the University of New Orleans’ commitment to our community,” said UNO President Peter J. Fos. “We are an innovative, engaged and solution- oriented institution, and we are thrilled to be incubating this project. Public universities should be beacons of light in their communities, and we feel NewOrleansReporter.org will help illuminate the issues that are important to the people of the greater New Orleans area.” NewOrleansReporter.org and WWNO will provide thought-provoking, original reporting on key beats including public accountability and government, business, education, criminal justice, the environment, and arts and culture. In addition to original reporting, NewOrleansReporter.org will feature and link to other local, national and world news; all content will be delivered in easily accessible formats including web, tablet, smart phone, social media and radio. Built on a public radio funding model, the new service will be made possible through the support of the community, including voluntary donations from radio listeners and website users; corporate sponsors; and foundation funders and major donors. Current WWNO General Manager Paul Maassen will manage WWNO radio and NewOrleansReporter.org to coordinate digital and broadcast content. WWNO and NewOrleansReporter.org will share a common newsroom on UNO’s campus, with reporters producing content for both online and radio formats. Importantly, NewOrleansReporter.org will be “open source,” meaning all of its content will be available, free of charge, to other local and national news outlets. With a strong focus on journalistic integrity, NewOrleansReporter.org will have a clear policy to not sacrifice editorial judgment for the political, financial or promotional goals of any individual, organization or business. “This is an exciting opportunity to converge digital, mobile and broadcast together in a multiplatform newsroom for New Orleans,” said Paul Maassen, WWNO general manager. “We are grateful for the support the community has shown for this initiative. UNO is launching NewOrleansReporter.org and WWNO’s expanded newsroom in partnership with National Public Radio (NPR). NPR is providing consultation to WWNO around technology infrastructure and online revenue generation as well as training to support the rapid deployment of a multimedia newsroom. “NPR is honored to join with the University of New Orleans and WWNO as they launch this ground-breaking news service. We are excited about the opportunity to provide national support for this critically important local effort to serve the public in creative and new ways," said NPR President and CEO Gary E. Knell. Initial community engagement and fundraising support will come from Greater New Orleans Inc., the Urban League of Greater New Orleans, the Business Council of New Orleans and the River Region, and the Greater New Orleans Foundation. “In the wake of the most dynamic time in New Orleans' recent history, we need as many diverse journalistic voices as possible. NewOrleansReporter.org is going to provide the community with an authentic voice that will allow our resurgence to be chronicled for all to see,” said Nolan Rollins, president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater New Orleans. NewOrleansReporter.org will seek to coordinate with other local news sources and organizations to maximize existing resources and encourage the spread of high-quality reporting; initial content partners include NolaVie and The Lens. "Through this new initiative, we're pleased to extend our ongoing partnership with WWNO to provide news about the extraordinary work that nonprofits and other civil society organizations are doing to transform our region,” said Albert Ruesga, president and CEO of the Greater New Orleans Foundation. Reflecting its mission to promote civic discourse, success for NewOrleansReporter.org will be measured in two ways: firstly, volume of readership; and secondly, the degree to which original content is picked up by other media and is recognized as high quality. "A well informed community has proven to be essential to the transformation of New Orleans,” said Suzanne Mestayer, chair of the Business Council of New Orleans and the River Region. “This commitment to comprehensive coverage of issues facing our citizens and local government will support our work to improve the quality of life in our city." NewOrleansReporter.org will seek to be live by the end of the year. Individuals who would like to part of this initiative can visit NewOrleansReporter.org to become a founding subscriber, and to sign up for email alerts. "Greater New Orleans is now one of the most innovative regions in America," said Michael Hecht, president and CEO of Greater New Orleans, Inc. "NewOrleansReporter.org will serve to not only provide high-quality news to the people and media of our community, but also to demonstrate to the world that New Orleans and deserve their recent recognition as a top location for digital media in the United States.” For contact and donation information, go to NewOrleansReporter.org. ###

Additional Contacts: Anna Christopher Michael Hecht NPR GNO Inc. (202) 513-2304 (504) 527-6907 achristopher@.org [email protected]

Cathy Washington Suzanne Mestayer Urban League of Greater New Orleans Business Council of New Orleans & (504) 620-2332 the River Region [email protected] (504) 528-3688 [email protected]

Albert Ruesga Greater New Orleans Foundation (504) 598-4663 [email protected]

The University of New Orleans (UNO) is a major research university in one of the world’s most fascinating cities. For more than 50 years, it has been one of the city’s foremost public resources, offering a diverse set of world-class, research-based programs, advancing shared knowledge and adding to the city’s industry, culture and economy. Since 1958, UNO has educated students from all 64 Louisiana parishes, all 50 states in the United States and more than 100 countries. Today UNO offers more than 50 undergraduate and pre-professional programs and more than 40 graduate programs.